Watchmen New York City Backlot Photos

New official photos reveal familiar storefronts, locations and details from the graphic novel

Everyone has been buzzing about the New York City backlot on Byrne Road and Marine Drive in Vancouver. Well, now, thanks to another official Warner Bros. production blog update, we get to see lots of the details.

The photos (all of which can be seen from our Movie Photos page) show an incredible attention to details seen throughout the graphic novel.

Among some of the locations that can be seen are the Newsstand, the Gunga Diner, the pirate themed comic book store Treasure Island, the Rumrunner bar and a pawn shop.

Other neat little details that can be seen are ads for the Black Freighter comic book and the Pale Horse with Krystalnacht concert, a “Four More Years” Nixon re-election poster, and an ad for “Veidt Sport” on the side of a bus stop. Also, if you look closley to a marquee just under the flap of the newsstand’s awning you can see the last lines promoting “Enola Gay and the Little Boys” which appeared on the outside of one of the adult venues in the graphic novel. And, yes, you can also see the infamous “Who Watches The Watchmen” grafitti tag.

One exclusive photo sent to us by the production shows a detail of the door on the Rummrunner bar.

Some characters can be seen as well, including the two Bernies by a newsstand. These characters come from one of the subplots in the graphic novel involving a newsvendor and a younger boy who sits by his stand reading an issue of The Black Freighter — yet another much talked about subplot from the story. Walking away from the newsstand on the right side of the image… is that retired masked hero Hollis Mason, played by Stephen McHattie? There is also a character that looks a hell of a lot like Rorschach walking past the pawn shop in one of the photos. Hurm.

Production designer Alex McDowell is responsible for the way the backlot set matches the signature imagery and colors artist Dave Gibbons brought to life in his and writer Alan Moore’s 1986 comic book series. McDowell’s credits include the film adaptations of The Cat in the Hat and Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Back in October, this site confirmed that the Byrne Road backlot was for the Watchmen film and not for the upcoming remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still.